Watchdog group blasts 'conservative disinformation'

A left-leaning watchdog group is keeping an eye on what the national media is saying about Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount.

In an e-mail Wednesday afternoon, Media Matters for America, a self-described progressive research and information center that monitors, analyzes and "corrects conservative misinformation" in the U.S. media, listed a half-dozen instances of national media repeating incorrect facts about the recount.

The statewide recount of 2.9 million ballots began Wednesday. At last count, only 215 votes separated incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, from his DFL challenger, Al Franken.

"As the list below (indicates), media coverage of the Minnesota recount has been rife with inaccuracies, falsehoods and uncritical reporting," the Media Matters e-mail said.

Here are the instances reported by Media Matters:

Time magazine repeated the Coleman camp's accusation that the Minnesota secretary of state has "breached neutrality."

The New York Times reported that the GOP is "strongly questioning" Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's objectivity, but didn't note Republican praise of his bipartisan canvassing board appointments.

Conservative radio hosts accuse DFLers of "trying to steal" the Minnesota Senate election, even though Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said that there is no such evidence.

The Wall Street Journal and Fox News' Sean Hannity and Brit Hume repeated rumors that 32 absentee ballots were left in a car and mishandled, suggesting possible vote tampering.

Fred Barnes, co-host of Fox News' "The Beltway Boys," also referred to the rumor about the 32 "mishandled" absentee ballots.

Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," suggested that Ritchie was actively rooting for Franken to win the Senate seat.